Civil war experience resonates as IMO residents leave their homes

IPOB: Nigeria has made war on us and we will defend our land

By Vincent Ujumadu, Awka

FOLLOWING military attacks in parts of Orlu, Imo State, many locals started leaving their homes to safer places, reminiscent of the experiences of the war civil.

It came as the indigenous peoples of Biafra, IPOB, said yesterday that since the Nigerian military brought war to Biafra, people have no choice but to defend their lands.

For the past week, soldiers have combed through numerous villages in the Orlu local government region in search of men from the Eastern Security Network, ESN, sponsored by the indigenous peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and were joined Thursday by the Nigerian air force whose fighter jets struck many villages in the region.

Eyewitnesses said there had been a pandemonium in many villages in local government areas of Orlu, Ideato and Nwangene and even in Ihiala in Anambra state with people rushing to safety as air force planes flew close to the ground in search of ESN bases.

In Ihiala on Saturday Vanguard saw people yesterday, who claimed to be fleeing their community, Umuna in the Orlu local government area with their properties.

One of them, Mr Christian Duruibe, said his family members were fortunate enough not to be hit by the bullets from the planes, adding that he had decided to transfer his family to his in Uli, Anambra state, for safety.

Duruibe said: “I was a young man during the Biafran war and I was aware of the experiences of people who lived near the war zones. Although I did not fight the war, I lost a lot of people in the Nigerian Air Force airstrikes each time they targeted Biafra Airport in Uli.

“We were always running in the bush and it was a terrible experience and I don’t want my kids to go through a similar thing. The frequency of the current strikes shows that the Nigerian army is not ready to leave our region so soon.

“I have children who are still young and exposing them to the constant sounds of guns from the ground and the air is not good for them.

“In Umuna today (yesterday) many families have rented vehicles to move their families out of the community, as our house is becoming a war zone. “

He said he was not aware of any ESN camps in his community, adding that it came as a surprise when soldiers said 33 ESN members were arrested in Umuna with dangerous weapons.

He wondered why the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzordinma, who is from the Orlu area, should allow his state to become a theater of war and appealed to him to convince the army to leave the State of Imo alone.

Reacting to the Orlu incident, IPOB said they wanted the world to know that Nigeria brought war to Biafra, stating that they had come with military planes, tanks and war material heavy.

IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary Comrade Emma Powerful said that through development, the Second Nigeria / Biafra War began on Thursday, February 18, 2021.

His statement said: “The Nigerian military launched simultaneous ground and air attacks against us. After the genocidal war of 1967-1970 during which they killed more than five million innocent Biafrans, they again came to bomb them under the pretext that they were chasing the personnel of the Eastern Security Network ESN who guard our forests against the killer shepherds and terrorists unleashed in our land.

“A few days before the raid, they kidnapped a priest from the synagogue, Mazi Egole and his house, qualifying them as members of the IPOB. Then, on February 16, they kidnapped Ms. Ngozi Umeadi who they said took care of the injured during the #EndSARS protest. Not yet done, they took Dr Stephen Irochi from Multicare Hospital and a few injured #EndSARS protesters from Obigbo for treatment at the hospital.

“The government, which could not defend the Biafrans against the relentless and unprovoked attacks against indigenous Nigerians, has now mobilized its land and air force against ESN patriotically and willingly by doing the job that the Nigerian security forces refused to do. to do. ESN’s crime is to defend the inhabitants against the Peuhl shepherds.

“Orlu and its surroundings are now a theater of war declared by the Nigerian government against innocent people. Dozens of innocent civilians have already claimed victims! Orlu and his neighbor Orsu LGA have been subjected to heavy bombing by the Nigerian Air Force since February 18, 2021.

“But we promise disgrace to our enemies. They will be shamefully defeated. The war has started! We will defend Biafra and we will triumph! No inch of Biafra land will be taken by the invaders.

Vanguard News Nigeria

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